Buying a Used car (recommendations)

Never. It won't end well.

If he's buying this as a temp car, look up craigslist junkers and make sure your friend works it out with the owner to get a detailed 700-point check inspection, etc. It'll save him about 7 grand that he can use to buy suits!

Yeah it does sound high for a 2006 model. Id say check ebay motors and see how much people are selling theirs.

It might seem kind of high for a used car, but that's just because Hondas (and Toyotas) hold their value pretty well compared to other used cars. Assuming that it hasn't been abused, it should last him much longer than the upcoming school year, and he can probably sell it for a similar price (maybe a couple thousand less) if he doesn't need it after a year or two.

I used to be in the "business" so I would start with the most crucial part which is how many miles are on the car. This would determine if $13k is a good deal or not. My guess is a 5 year old car like so should have around 60k-70k with normal driving. Anything more than that should really be looked at by a mechanic or someone who knows these cars. I'd have him drive the car for a good 20 minutes on highway and local streets with NO RADIO!!! Listen for any noises such as thumps , rattling, etc.. This will be a good start. If you/he does hear something try to see where it's coming from and see what the culprit is. Check for any oil leaks while the car is on. Check the tires out and the brakes to make sure they'll pass inpection. Tires and brakes alone could cost you up to $800 or more with labor. Check for rust under the body and on the body. Make sure the whole exhaust is clean with no rust. Make sure no check engine lights are on as well as ABS, SRS etc... If anything I just mentioned is not up so snuff start deducting from the 13k. Other than that you're pretty much on your own when buying from a private seller.

Most dealers will service the car meaning they'll do the nessesary repairs for it to pass state inpection and depending on what state you are in they're also liable for any problems under the lemon law. In New York it's under 100k miles , anything more you're pretty much on your own so that's the good thing about buying from a dealership. He really can't knock on friends door at 1am when his car breaks down and expect any help so take that into consideration.

+7....

Price seems reasonable It's the new body Only real deciding factor would be if the timing belt's been changed or not

Looking at www.jaxed.com under vehicles in the US the price doesn't seem out of reach for a Civic EX (I'm assuming this is a civic you're talking about; DX, LX, EX are trim designations for a model). lpalma121 is bang on, the largest determinant is often mileage. Mileage and the service record will show if the work that's required to be done, which is usually based on mileage (like the timing belt Cool mentioned) has been done when appropriate (or at all). Another thing to do is send your friend to the local library or bookstore and look at the Lemon-Aid guides for that model and year. This book series will tell you if there is any warranty work that is in dealer bulletins for the particular model/year and you can see if that's been done as well. This work is often not done unless the owner is aware of the work - the dealer won't do it on their own initiative. It's the only used car guide I know of that does this. http://www.lemonaidcars.com/secretwarranties.html The last issue is whether your friend can get a better deal for the same thing elsewhere.

Personally Civics are a dime + dozen enough that it would be worth looking for a car of equal mileage from a dealer That way you get a warranty and all that shit. I bought a 99 Maxima from a used car dealer a few years ago (!!!) and they fixed about $600 worth of stuff for free. Car ran like a top for the year + that I had it and it had 100K+ miles